The present invention relates to a device for practicing running and, more particularly, to a portable running device with defined places in which a runner places his feet without the danger of injury from accidental tripping.
In teaching football it is necessary for players to practice running with both eye and foot coordination to make the runner more agile. An exercise which has proven to be especially beneficial in playing the game of football where broken field running is needed to elude potential tacklers is running through a course of running ropes.
Prior methods for practicing running consisted of laying down a number of old automobile tires along a course where the athlete would attempt to place his feet only within the tires as he proceeded along the course. Because this arrangement was rather cumbersome and required a large number of separate elements, it was eventually replaced by a suitable integral structure of elevated ropes either staked out in a semipermanent arrangement or on a portable framework. While these devices had generally been accepted by coaches and teachers, they have proven to be dangerous to the players using them. All running rope courses, no matter what type, requires careful placement of the players' feet, otherwise, he is liable to be tripped or become entangled in the ropes causing him to fall on the supporting framework with a possible resulting injury. There is a portable running rope device which uses a resilient means to avoid such injury where springs are attached between each rope and the support framework. This device has worked with some limited success however, the device requires a substantial framework including parallel bars on each side of the running ropes, therefore, should a runner fall during practice a real danger of injury exists from striking one of these bars.